the strong do as they wish, and the weak suffer as they must

Archive for April, 2005

Strong, credible allegations of high-level criminal activity can bring down a government. When the government lacks an effective, fact-based defense, other techniques must be employed. The success of these techniques depends heavily upon a cooperative, compliant press and a mere token opposition party.

Of course, those people who most engage in these practices wouldn’t take the time to read this, or recognize any of it as their own behavior.

In this mean and meager time of pre-packaged, pre-processed, corporate-controlled infotainment that passes itself off as ‘news, it is a rare and refreshing experience to see and hear a true journalist reporting the facts. I was privileged on Monday night to share a stage in Boston with Dahr Jamail, the intrepid reporter who could not stomach the biased non-news coming out of Iraq after the invasion, and went over there to see and report on what was happening himself.

…

In the best Iraqi neighborhoods, there is electricity available for eight hours a day. The rest of the nation gets electricity for perhaps three hours a day, if at all. At least two car bombs a day can be heard and felt, and the supposedly-safe Green Zone constantly comes under bombardment. Dead and bloated cattle line the roads, said roads existing in profoundly damaged condition.

Some 70% of the population is unemployed, leaving a great deal of spare time for despair and rage to take root. A good portion of the violent resistance, reported Jamail, is being carried out by foreign fighters, Baathist holdouts and former Iraqi military personnel. But more and more, everyday Iraqis are picking up guns, he said, because conditions are so deplorable.

WASHINGTON — President Bush was rushed to a secure underground White House bunker and Vice President Dick Cheney was whisked outside the compound Wednesday because of a “radar anomaly” — perhaps a flock of birds or pocket of rain — that was mistaken for a plane flying in restricted airspace.

…

They moved the president and vice president out of danger. Officers toting shotguns raced around the compound taking up positions. A surface-to-air missile battery recently installed on the roof of a nearby building was raised to fire position. Some White House staff members were evacuated from the West Wing. Tour groups were hustled out of the executive mansion and a park across the street from the White House was cleared.

Some parts of the compound, such as the area where the press is housed, were not notified of the threat or moved.

Sorta shows what they think of the press up there, doesn’t it? Sheesh.

Microsoft Corp., one of the earliest companies to extend benefits to gay employees, now finds itself in the crosshairs of angry activists for rescinding support for gay rights legislation in its home state.

Critics say the world’s No. 1 software maker caved to pressure from an NFL linebacker-turned-local pastor who had threatened to launch a nationwide boycott, and tried to tiptoe away from a bill it had previously supported.

Senate majority leader Bill Frist appeared through a telecast as a speaker at “Justice Sunday,” at the invitation of the event’s main sponsor, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins. “Justice Sunday” was promoted as a rally to portray Democrats as being “against people of faith.” Many of the speakers compared the plight of conservative Christians to the civil rights movement. But in sharing the stage with Perkins, who introduced him to the rally, Frist was associating himself with someone who has longstanding ties to racist organizations.

Four years ago, Perkins addressed the Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), America’s premier white supremacist organization, the successor to the White Citizens Councils, which battled integration in the South. In 1996 Perkins paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke $82,000 for his mailing list. At the time, Perkins was the campaign manager for a right-wing Republican candidate for the US Senate in Louisiana. The Federal Election Commission fined the campaign Perkins ran $3,000 for attempting to hide the money paid to Duke.

My grandfather was the greatest example of faith I ever personally witnessed. He truly loved everyone he met. The gym at his church is named in his honor. I am glad he didn’t live long enough to see what these charlatans are doing in the name of “faith”. Extremist, out of the mainstream frauds who no more believe in the teachings of Jesus than a pig believes in bacon.

And now, seemingly, we can add racist to their list of attributes. Nice. Take this, from James the soothsayer. The damage that these people do to religious discourse in this country is going to drive many away from the church, and in the end make organized religion open to ridicule. Mark my words.

WASHINGTON – President Bush is offering to make closed military bases available for new oil refineries and will ask Congress to provide a “risk insurance” to the nuclear industry against regulatory delays to spur construction of new nuclear power plants, senior administration officials said Tuesday.

Read any account of Bush speaking about, or acting on energy matters, and you will find one core concept that he will NEVER abandon.

Welfare. Welfare for energy companies. That energy bill last week? 8 billion in “gimmie” cash to his former partners and buddies in the oil industry. Now this idiot idea to turn over unused military bases to place new refineries on, plus “risk insurance”. Bite me, you corrupt stooge.

Pressured by anti-terror laws, banks will be spending billions of dollars over the next few years on software to counter money laundering. The software will automatically track suspicious financial transactions, but it will also monitor millions of innocuous ones, and may make it harder to cheat on your taxes.

I suppose “innocent till proven guilty” is somehow quaint these days. What an incredibly intrusive tool.